I DVRed the one hour special "Livin' For the Apocalypse" on TLC after reading about it on Survival Blog. Just as Rawles predicted, this show definitely tried to show preppers and survivalists as loonies. The show was short on helpful information and long on sensationalism. Most of us don't "live for the apocalypse", we just live. Here's a snippet:
The show profiled four different families with different methods of preparedness. Compared to NatGeo's "Doomsday Preppers", the producers of this show had even less regard for their participants' privacy. Full names and locations were shown with abandon. Even when the participants expressed a desire to maintain OPSEC, the producers showed items that would easily allow anyone to find out just who they are and where they live. For example, "Survival Doc" made a point about how he wouldn't reveal his real name. That was pretty much blown out of the water when the cameras caught his chiropractic licenses and an information board in his office that showed his full name and the name of his chiropractic establishment. Oh, and by the way, his chiropractic office is located in his home. OPSEC totally blown.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed seeing the preps that Peggy Layton, author of numerous food storage cookbooks, has. The ubiquitous McClung family (in the clip above) with their tilapia pool was profiled. Again. I have seen them on three different survival-related TV shows in the last six months. And contrary to what Mrs. McClung stated, you do NOT have to be a professional to can meat. All you have to do is have a pressure canner and follow some simple instructions. I just felt sorry for the last pair, a transgendered woman and her friend. I'm not going to say much about them other than to say that I think the producers should be ashamed of their extremely unflattering portrayal. They are a pretty unusual couple, but the editing did them no favors.
I don't think Hollywood is going to be knocking at my door and asking to take a look at my preps anytime soon, but if they did, you can bet I would say no. I think the potential educational value of a TV show on preppers is far outweighed by the OPSEC concerns. I'll stick with my blog, thank you very much!
In case you missed it, here's the listings for the next time "Livin' for the Apocalypse" will be shown. I didn't find it posted on YouTube yet, but I'm sure it will get there at some point.
Did you catch "Livin' for the Apocalypse"? What's your opinion on the show?
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The bummer part of not having cable is that I miss shows like this!
ReplyDeleteThat said, I don't really think that particular clip painted the family in a bad light. Sure... to the average sheeple types, they look insane. But I thought the parents were doing a great job of teaching their kids about preparedness in a fun, not-scary way. They made it seem like a game and didn't paint it all gloom and doom, so kudos to them for that.
Bitsy - I agree that the above clip was OK. It was also nearly identical to what the McClungs did in "Doomsday Preppers", LOL! The McClungs probably were portrayed the most like "normal" of the four families.
ReplyDeleteI saw it and thought it was shameful the way they portrayed the "ladies" in purple. They made a freak show out of those poor people. They also portrayed the rest of us preppers as looney tunes in my opinion. It was obvious the show wan't about truth, it was just more of the same garbage we have come to expect from Hollywood.
ReplyDeleteI saw the last couple and was just so sad for them. I still have "Doomsday" DVR'd but now don't know if it's at the top of my list to watch. I'm thinking that not doing interviews for "major" tv is wise.
ReplyDeleteMrsborch